What are the Odds?

Britt listened in on my speakerphone. "You think she was involved with somebody in the crime world? It didn't have to be that, it could have been an older man who thought she had a wandering eye. After all, she's a teenager in her second year of college. At that age I had a hole in my head where my brain should have been. It could have been a murder for hire kind of situation." Elliott said he would call his partner and would call again.

Elliott called again, three hours later, "we don't have her phone. Her purse has never been found. One of her friends saw her getting out of a high-end car, definitely not something a college kid had unless he, or she, to be gender neutral, was a trust fund baby oozing money from every pore. Any more cards up your sleeve? I definitely would not play cards with you, not even gin rummy."

Britt laughed at that one. "I hear lots of questions. Want a woman to talk with the females? I could do that. I notice lots of things, if there's a tell, maybe there's more to learn."

Elliott almost peed himself at the thought of getting a woman to look at this with a fresh perspective. Britt suggested he line them up at intervals so she could see them one after another. Elliott said he would work on that.

Britt smiled at me and said, "this is kind of fun. It's definitely a change of pace."

We went out for something to eat. She said her next place would have a kitchen. She was sick of eating out all the time. "I don't care how good it is, too much is too much." We took the afternoon off and went for a walk in the sunshine. It was a nice day, unlike what it would be in the summer with the heat and humidity.

"I think we should go to Laughlin in Nevada. We can stay across the river in Bullhead City where its cheaper. Laughlin is a casino town near Lake Powell with lots of tourists. We would not stand out there."

"You lead the way, I'll follow," I told her. I took her home and fucked her. Forget loving and tenderness, it was time for something else for a change. From what she said, she seemed to agree.

"But I get to drive the truck some of the time," she told me with a smile as she lay on the bed, naked.

"Maybe this isn't such a good idea after all," I replied with a smile as well.

We laughed together over that exchange.

We waited for Elliott. Two days later he said it was set up for the next day starting at ten. We went there together. Elliott had set her up in a conference room. There was a microphone there that would allow us to hear what was said. I asked for a pad of paper and a pen, just to write down any salient things said. The first one was ushered in by Barton, his partner, as we sat next door to listen. It droned on. The first two were see no evil, hear no evil, just typical teens with nothing on their brain other than drinking and partying. The next one was different it seemed. Britt led her off with her standard list of questions. She picked up on something and honed in on how the woman had answered her. That made the woman nervous.

"What do you know about Stevie being murdered."

"I heard she was strangled."

"It sounds a horrible way to die at age nineteen, doesn't it."

"Yeah."

"What did you know about who she dated, who she saw?"

There was a pause, then in a quiet voice she said, "she was seeing some guy who wasn't in our school."

"Do you know if she saw him a lot?"

"She seemed to be gone a lot. I heard she was going to her mom's frequently, but she came back to the dorm and was very quiet about it, which was unlike her. She made fun of her parents, called them stick in the muds, especially after seeing them."

"How long did you notice this?"

"It's been a few months, I guess."

"Ever see him, or him and her together?"

"I saw a black BMW waiting at the dorm entrance as I came in one time. She was on her way out at the same time. As she passed me, she waved and called out to someone. I think she said his name Reggie." When I turned a few seconds later, she was gone along with the car."

"Why do you remember his name?"

"My brother's name is Reggie. I meant to ask her about it but I came down with mono and was quarantined. When I got out she was already dead."

"Anything else? Changes in behavior?"

"She seemed more withdrawn, or secretive. I asked her bestie about it but didn't get much of a response."

"Is it OK if I call you if I have any questions?"

"Ah, sure."

Elliott told her, "you're doing good. You honed in and drew her out. Two more to go."

Number four was bubbly as Britt started in with the usual questions. "Did you know Stevie well?"

"I would say I was her second best friend. Mo, I mean Maureen, was definitely her best friend."

"She ever talk to you about who she was seeing? Dating?"

"At the beginning of the year, yeah, definitely. But she really stopped talking about it."

"Did the rest of you talk about it together?"

"Mo really shut us down about that."

I wrote down 'Mo? She knew who she was seeing?' I showed the page to Elliott. He nodded.

"Did you and Mo talk about it?"

"Once she started to say something after I questioned her, then she shut up and walked away."

"Anything else out of the ordinary?"

"It was such a strange vibe. College age girls talk about everything. She stopped doing that. Mo was very protective, like she knew something but wasn't saying."

The last young woman had nothing to add. Britt came into the room after she had finished. I showed her the note I had written. She nodded her head.

"Yeah, I picked up on that as well. I think Mo knows something she's not talking about. Maybe she's afraid after what happened to Stevie?"

"Want to have a go at her as well?" This from Elliott.

"Sure. Would you set it up?"

A phone call later from Elliott confirmed a 5:30 appointment that day.

Maureen was ushered in by Barton. Britt identified herself, then began the now-familiar questions, then added, "Were you scared by what happened to Stevie?"

"Yes, of course. Wouldn't you be?"

"Yes. I think that's an almost universal fear among women. Was there something specific you were afraid of?"

"I was her best friend. I was afraid they might come after me."

"Why would they have come after you? Just because you two were friends?"

"No. Because of what she told me."

"What did she tell you?"

"Reggie was a jealous man and had powerful friends. They fought more than once where he accused her of being unfaithful."

"Wow. Why did she stay with him?"

"I think she was scared to break it off, that he would come after her."

"So his name is Reggie. What else do you know about him?"

"His dad has lots of money, runs a trucking company. Reggie works for him. He hates it. She told me he was scared to tell his old man he wanted to do something else."

"So she was scared of him and he was scared of his dad. Doesn't look like a good situation. How did they meet?"

"I went with her and some of our friends to a frat party. Reggie was there with some buds, slumming. He had graduated after living at the frat all through school. He's funny, or at least he can be. She gave him her number. He was older, seemed more mature, and everybody said he had money. That's a big draw for her, she liked to date older men."

"Which frat was this?"

"The Tau's. They're big on campus."

"Did they date long?"

"He asked her out a couple of times, just a date, you know? Then it seemed like they were together a lot. She didn't see anyone else. She got clothes and stuff. She'd tell me about fancy dinners. She met his dad, said he was a ass."

"What kind of car did he drive?"

"A BMW, some souped up version. I went with them a couple of times to dinner. He drove like a maniac, scared the shit out of me. I thought we were going to die."

"Why were you guys at Portnoy's? Did you go there often?"

"She wanted to meet up with Brando. They had known each since high school."

"Did she go to buy weed?"

"She had money from a bunch of people, some of it for weed, some of it for other stuff. We were going to a big party and everybody would be there. She could hand it out there."

"Did she normally do this?"

"No. She said Brando told her he could score some good stuff cheap. She had priced it at the regular price and planned to keep the extra money."!

"Did she need the money?"

Mo hesitated, started to say something, then hesitated again before lapsing into silence.

"What's going on, Mo?"

Mo started crying. "She was pregnant. She hadn't wanted Reggie to know, so she needed money for an abortion. I was going to go with her out of state. But Reggie found out. She slipped up somehow. He thought it was somebody else's baby. He was pissed."

I looked at Elliott. This had to have shown up in her autopsy. He just nodded his head. That poor woman, caught between a rock and a hard place. The hard place won.

Mo bolted for the door and left. Britt came in and looked at me, then Elliott, as if seeking confirmation. "You guys knew, didn't you. You withheld it. Mo knew you knew. You had to know."

"At the time, it was withheld because it's didn't seem pertinent to the case, to protect her privacy."

"So we know about Reggie and we know his dad is in trucking. Can you work backward to find the guy?"

"That's the plan now that we know this much. There's only 100,000 or so trucking companies in the state, or so it seems. Maybe he's listed as an officer, maybe on legal papers that get posted. We've got a name, we'll start from there. Plus we know he owns a BMW that's some souped up version. There can't be that many registered in the state. We'll find the guy through the DMV registrations."

Britt and I went out to eat. "Interviewing is hard work!" Britt said. "I worked up an appetite!" We ordered and she had a sandwich plus a bowl of soup. Me? I had a salad. "Still feeling lucky, Mr Lucky?"

"I'm here with you, so yes, I am."

"Instead of dessert, take me home and ravish me!"

So I did, much to my and her enjoyment. i stripped her and bent her over the arm of the chair in the room and fucked her hard. She egged me on with crys of "fuck me" and "harder."

I renewed my place for another week. I was hoping to see this through. Somehow I had become invested in a young woman I had never met just as I had become invested in Britt. Big changes for a guy who never gets involved in anything except making money. 'Live your life' had been my mantra. Now, somehow, that had changed its meaning. Elliott woke me up the next morning.

"Put Britt on the phone." I handed her my phone as we lay side by side in bed.

"This had better be good. I need my beauty sleep."

"As fine as you look, you don't need any beauty sleep."

"Ooh, a sweet talker. Making a play to take Cam's place?"

"I watch the way you look at him so that's not gonna happen in my lifetime. First, thank you for yesterday. You were very helpful. Second, want to take another crack at Mo? She's agreed to meet at the school, not at the station. That's her only condition."

"Sure. When and where?"

He gave us the time and place.

"You're going alone. She told me no police. She liked you."

Britt went and we waited to hear from her. Two hours later, she was back. Elliott was there with me as we waited for her.

"Daddy's company has a side business of transporting drugs. Reggie didn't like it and wanted out. I take it that conversation didn't go well. She makes it sound like Reggie did care for Stevie but there were real conflicts."

Elliott called the next day. "Found the son through car registrations. It's some exotic version they make. His dad has a medium-sized company. It's been in business for quite a while. We going to clue in the DEA and the FBI at some point when we know more. The more we know the less likely they are to just take the case over. The question is how to get the info we need?"

"I could do it," Britt said. "Find out where he hangs out and I could go there and get to know him."

I didn't like the sound of 'get to know him' but that was my possessiveness talking.

Elliott looked at her, then said, "sure, we can tail him for a while, find out where he hangs out."

I felt excluded from this conversation, like I didn't exist. I told her so. She looked at me and said, "no worries, it's just conversation."

Elliott came back three days later and told us he was commonly at a bar some distance away. Britt said she would go and look around. They had surveillance photos of him, so she knew who she was looking for. She told me to buy a burner phone. "If I have to text you I don't want him to know it's you."

That night, she went to look around. She was wearing a short skirt, low heels and a slim top that showed off her bust line. Four hours later she was back. "I looked around, got hit on a few times but didn't see him. I kept some guy company while I waited so no one would suspect."

Our sex that night was intense. She was already worked up as was I. We fucked. It was great.

In time, we got the call that he was there. Britt dressed similarly and left after a kiss and hug. It was a long wait for her to reappear. She came home about two am, I hugged her and sat down to hear what she had to say. "I saw him there. After I blew off a couple of guys, he came up to me and talked, then asked if he could buy me a drink. We went to his table and drank cheap bourbon. What awful stuff. I'm spoiled. We chatted back and forth. I finally told him what I did. He was really interested, asked lots of questions. I told him I was fairly new to the area. He wanted to ask me for a date. I told him maybe another time. I don't think he's used to being told no. After that, I left. I did give him my number and told him not to expect me to answer at night because I would be working then. I don't know if he thinks I'm a poker player or a hooker." It was 4am before we got to sleep, we were both wound.

Two days later he called. He asked her out again. She agreed to meet him for dinner. Come that night, she left for dinner, all dressed to kill. About 10pm, she texted me from the bathroom that it was going well. They were going dancing. At 2am, I got a second text, 'on my way home'. I hugged and kissed her when she arrived. She said we would talk after she took a shower. She came out naked and we climbed into bed. "It was really interesting. He wanted to know more about how I made money at poker, so I told him. We talked for a long time, then he took me dancing. That was fun. I haven't done that in quite a while. I'm going to have to take another place for a while. If he picks me up, I have to have my own place." The next day, she moved part of her belongings into another short-term rental.

She took him with her to observe poker players, then they would move to the bar area and talk about what they saw. He even took her to meet his dad. She told me his dad undressed her with his eyes, loving her short skirt, heels and low cut top. As they got ready to leave, he hugged and kissed her on the mouth in front of his son, his hands on her ass. "What an arrogant jerk."

"What does he tell you about Stevie.?"

"He's very guarded. He said he hadn't dated in a while, that he last dated a college girl. He's taking me to a Tau party Saturday."

Early Sunday morning she called me. "I'm coming over."

There she hugged and kissed me. "They are so arrogant. It's like anything goes. He took me on a tour of the place. Every room was occupied with people fucking one way or another. Some of them just left the door open so you could watch. I'm no saint, and wasn't in college either, but, my goodness, I saw some things I almost could not believe. Reggie wanted me and him to join in, kissing me and trying to feel me up but I told him no. I was glad to get away from there. He finally took me to my place and left. Reggie is so jealous, tells me his dad took me away from him just because he kissed me and pawed my ass. I pushed him some and asked him if this had happened before. He told me about Stevie, how his dad took her for himself. Maybe it was like what he did to me? Or maybe even more sexually involved? They fought over it. He was so jealous and angry, both at his dad and at Stevie for getting pregnant. Was the baby-to-be his or his dad's? It's almost unbelievable how bent out of shape he can be. The next thing he knew, she was dead. He says he had nothing to do with it and his dad denied any involvement."

"So how and when does this end?"

.

"Elliott tells me the feds are now involved, trying to figure how it all works."

When next I saw Britt, she said to me,"why don't you go on to Laughlin. I'll join you there when this is over. I'll be ok. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself." She kept at me until I agreed, emptied out my unit and drove away. A few days later, she called me. "I miss you like crazy. I'm telling Elliott I'm done. I told Reggie I'm leaving town."

I was making money steadily. The Bank of Chevrolet was bulging. I'd trade it all for time with Britt.

I waited.

Britt finally called me from the road. "The Feds took over the case and shut down Daddy's firm. He and Reggie are in jail. Father and son are accusing each other of having Stevie and Brando killed. They're continuing to interrogate both of them. I got involved in this sort of by chance and got pulled into a world that scared me. I wanted to help her but that was too much. I'm glad it's over. I'm on my way."

A day later, she pulled up outside and honked her horn. I had taken a small furnished house complete with kitchen and all the necessary utensils. I opened the door and she ran into my arms and kissed me. "Finding you was the best thing that's ever happened to me. I don't want anything to come between us. I want us to be together forever."

The definition of "Live your life" has changed, and definitely for the better